A new species of Urophora Robineau-Desvoidiy, 1830 (Diptera, Tephritidae) from Iran

Abstract Urophora merzi sp. n. reared from flower heads of Centaurea behen Linnaeus is described from Iran. It is similar to Urophora campestris, Urophora sachalinensis, Urophora stylata, Urophora tsoii and Urophora vera in wing pattern with 3 well developed crossbands and indistinct subbasal crossband, differing in aculeus tip with two pairs of diminished preapical steps and different host plants.


Introduction
The genus Urophora Robineau-Desvoidiy, 1830 with about 60 species is one of the largest genera of the family Tephritidae in the Palaearctic Region . All species of known biology are associated with asteraceous plants and induce galls in their flower heads and, rarely, stems (White and Korneyev 1989). Some Urophora species are agents for biological control of astraceous weeds; U. affinis (Frauenfeld), U. cardui (Linnaeus), U. quadrifasciata (Meigen), U. sirunaseva (Hering), U. solstitialis (Linnaeus) and U. stylata (Fabricius) successfully introduced to the Nearctic Region for biocontrol of weeds (Peschken and Harris 1975;Turner et al. 1994;Turner 1996 a, b;Wheeler and Stoops 1996).
While studying the tephritid flies fauna in Iran in 2008-2011 seasons, we collected and reared a previously undescribed species that infests the flower heads of Centaurea behen L. (Asteraceae). The new species is described and figured below.

Material and methods
Materials were collected by standard sweeping net and rearing from flower heads of Centaurea behen. Morphological terminology follows White et al. (1999). The material examined minuten-pinned on side and deposited in collections of the following institutions: The following morphometric characters with their abbreviations are used: Body length (BL); wing length (WL); aculeus length (AL). Apex of first flagellomere slightly pointed. Aculeus width between primary steps almost equal to distance from primary steps to apex (see Korneyev and White 1996: Fig. 21 Description. Head: Yellow, except ocellar triangle, occiput and slender part of arista black. Length: height: width ratio = 1: 1: 1.25. Frons brown; face whitish yellow; Antenna yellow, scape with blackish setulae at dorso-apical margin; first flagellomere light yellow, 1.6 times as long as wide and distinctly rounded antro-ventrally; arista bare. Compound eye about as high as long. Gena 1.1 times as high as length of first flagellomere. Proboscis capitate with black setae. Two frontal and one orbital setae present. Postocellar, postocular, vertical and genal setae black and acuminate. Frons with black setulae around frontal setae (Fig. 4).

Key to Western Palaearctic species of
Thorax: General color black; mesonotal scutum densely covered with gray microtrichia and black setulae. Notopleura shining black. Pleuron black; only stripe in anterior half of anepisternum and postpronotal lobe yellow. Scutellum yellow; slightly convex, corners of scutellum black. Subscutellum and mediotergite black. All setae on thorax black and acuminate. Scutellum with 4 equal black setae; basal setae placed in yellow area. Halter yellow.
Wing: Hyaline with 3 well developed dark brown crossbands. Subbasal band reduced and only present as darkening near apex of cell bm and rarely bcu. Discal crossband complete, crossing wing from pterostigma through R-M crossvein into posterior margin. Preapical crossband complete, reaching posterior margin. Apical band well developed. In females, preapical and apical crossbands in 56.2% of type material fused in cell r 1 (Fig. 2), in 31.2% fused in r 1 and r 2+3 (Figs 1, 11) and in 12.5% fused in r 1 , r 2+3 and anterior half of r 4+5 cells (Fig. 3). In males, preapical and apical crossbands in 33.3% of specimens fused in cell r 1 , in 50% fused in r 1 and r 2+3 and in 16.6% fused in r 1 , r 2+3 and anterior half of r 4+5 cells. In one male of type series discal and preapical crossbands narrowly joined in r 1 cell and in one female and one male discal and preapical crossbands narrowly connected at posterior margin of wing. Pterostigma yellowish. Distance between crossveins about 1.4 as long as dm-cu crossvein. R 4+5 with 1 setula ventrally at node. Legs: Completely yellow; fore femur in 60% of females and 55% of males with black stripe in dorsal side. All setae and setulae blackish (Figs 9, 10). Fore femur with two dorsal and one ventral rows of setae.
Etymology. The species is named in honour of Dr Bernhard Merz, an outstanding Swiss dipterist, in recognition of his invaluable contribution into study of the order Diptera, especially family Tephritidae. Discussion. The new species is similar to U. campestris Ito (Japan), U. sachalinensis (Shiraki) (Russia and Japan), U. stylata Fabricius (Worldwide), U. tsoii Korneyev and White (Russia) and U. vera Korneyev and White (Armenia), sharing similar wing pattern (3 well developed crossbands and indistinct subbasal crossband, with apical and preapical crossbands fused along anterior margin of wing), yellow femora and antenna and black notopleura, differing in the shape of aculeus apex. Apex of aculeus in U. sachalinensis, U. stylata and U. vera has one pair of steps. U. campestris and U. tsoii (both occurring in the Far East of the Palaearctic Region) possess two pairs of distinct steps, whereas the aculeus tip in U. merzi sp. n. has two pairs of smoothed, almost indistinct steps. Also the new species is similar to U. jaculata Rondani (Italy and Greece), sharing similar aculeus apex and host plants of the genus Centaurea, differing in the subbasal crossband strongly reduced to a darkening near bm cell (distinct and reaching R 1 in U. jaculata).
All the compared species are associated with different host plants: U. campestris, U. sachalinensis and U. stylata are associated with Cirsium spp., Carduus spp. and Galactites tomentosa; U. tsoii and U. vera with Serratula spp. and U. jaculata with Centaurea solstitialis White 1999, 2000) whereas U. merzi sp. n. is associated with Centaurea behen.